Chapter 1228: I Am Why The Night is Lightless

“Don’t leave just yet. The storyteller has one more story to tell.”

“What? Why? I thought the stories about the Mad Lord’s battle against the Mountain King and the Military Opera Actor are already over?”

“It’s a new one. I heard that the Mad Lord has killed yet another warrior.”

“Another one? Who? It better not be some petty no-names, man!”

“Since when does the Mad Lord go after nobodies? And if it was some nobodies, would Jade Capital Teahouse go through the trouble of setting up another session?”

“Makes sense. Anyway, the show’s beginning, so let’s stay quiet now...”

“It’s Elder You? Elder You only attends two or three sessions per month, and we manage to catch him? It’s worth it!”

Tap!

Suddenly, the sharp sound of a gavel pierced through the air, and the noise in Jade Capital Teahouse immediately vanished into nothing, leaving only pin-drop silence behind.

“Tall and dangerous is in the name of Cloud Hue Old Road.

Gods and celestials avoid it, and evils and monsters hide from it.

And yet the Mad Lord shakes Cloud Hue in one punch.

Leaving not one whit of the Thirteen Renegade Bandits behind.”

Elder You was a vigorous-looking old man despite his perfectly white hair and beard. His voice was loud, clear, and infused with some sort of power that allowed everyone to hear him clearly despite how large the teahouse was. It was clear that he was a warrior, and quite the high level one too.

“Today, I will tell you the story of the Mad Lord killing the Thirteen Undying Renegade Bandits on the Cloud Hue Old Road in one punch.”

“What? The Thirteen Undying Renegade Bandits? How is that possible? The Undying Renegade Bandits are as tough as a rock and as tenacious as a gu insect! You can cut off their head and split them into eight pieces, and they will still come back to life! How can they die, and in one punch no less?”

“Shh! Be quiet and listen to Elder You.”

“That day, after killing Military Opera Actor at Myriad Blessings Town, the Mad Lord journeyed east all the way to Cloud Hue Old Road.”

Elder You began, “I’m sure you’ve all heard about it. It is the most treacherous old plank walkway in all of Wei as it circles up the mountains and spans across two mountain peaks. Such is the terrain that they say that it leads up to the clouds and is difficult to navigate even by gods and celestials. Because of this, the Cloud Hue Old Road is also nicknamed the ‘Celestial Be Warned’.”

“However, a treacherous terrain isn’t the only reason Cloud Hue Old Road is so dangerous. The Thirteen Undying Renegade Bandits are the other reason.”

“Speaking of, I’m sure you all know the Thirteen Undying Renegade Bandits even better than me. They are all veteran Truemen, but they do not use their power for good. Instead, they kill people, burn houses, pillage towns and more. There is no crime they wouldn’t commit, and they are loathed by all.”

“Unfortunately, these thirteen Truemen were powerful and extremely difficult to kill due to the evil arts they practice. Once, Ling Xiao City, Boundless Mountain, Lanke Temple and more orthodox sects gathered a hunting party of hundreds to hunt them down, and there were Half-Sages in the group. Despite this, the Thirteen Undying Renegade Bandits still managed to elude justice. It shows just how strong they really are.”

“But do you know why they’re so strong, so unkillable?”

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

While holding the crowd’s gaze, Elder You wet his throat with a sip of tea before continuing, “That is because of the martial arts they practice.”

“The Thirteen Undying Renegade Bandits practices two divine arts. The first one is called the Divine Art of Consistency, and the second is the Undying Evil Body. The Divine Art of Consistency allows them to focus thirteen people’s strength in one person, massively boosting their power for a short time. Since the Thirteen Undying Renegade Bandits are all Truemen, their combined power could rival even that of a Half-Sage.”

“As for the Undying Evil Body, it is a method to refine one’s body into something like a zombie using ambient yin qi and deathly qi, tough and highly resistant. Not only that, the Undying Evil Body allowed them to spread one person’s damage to the other twelve. This means that any fatal injury, even one as severe as losing a head or being split into multiple pieces, becomes insignificant after it is divided in twelve. This is why the Undying Renegade Bandits are undying, and why they are able to roam the

jianghu

unhindered.”

“I see!”

“What a heretical martial art!”

The people in the teahouse exclaimed in surprise. This was one of those secrets they would never have known if Elder You hadn’t told them about it.

Elder You smacked his gavel again, silencing the crowd and drawing their attention back to him. “Now that the exposition is over, let us get back to the story. While the Mad Lord was crossing Cloud Hue Old Road, the Thirteen Undying Renegade Bandits ambushed him. They had been waiting for him for a long time, and they were extremely familiar with the terrain. They were sure that they would succeed and claim the Earthly Sovereign Bell for themselves.”

“However, the Mad Lord was able to defend himself perfectly with a wine gourd in one hand, and a dead branch in the other. With just a dead branch, he was able to neutralize all of their attacks and keep them a good three meters away from him.”

“For the Mad Lord, a jar of dirty wine and a dead branch are all he needs to pierce all arts and keep the evil at bay. No matter what they tried, the Thirteen Undying Renegade Bandits simply could not threaten the Mad Lord.”

“Left with no choice, the Thirteen Undying Renegade Bandits unleashed their trump cards and poured all of their power into their boss using the Divine Art of Consistency, making him a temporary Half-Sage. Then, the boss swallowed all of the clouds in the sky and transformed them into thirteen palm strikes. Imbued with the power of the clouds and the might of the skies, these thirteen palm strikes could have destroyed the heavens’ gate. Now, he was directing it at the Mad Lord.”

“But the Mad Lord merely scoffed and laughed at the power that could destroy the heavens. After taking a deep gulp of wine, he declared that he does not enjoy drinking clouds because it is no wine. Then, he threw out a punch.”

“In one punch, the sea of clouds faded into nothing, the Thirteen Undying Renegade Bandits fell dead, and the fifty-kilometer-long Cloud Hue Old Road dissolved into fine dust.”

He paused, savoring the dead silence both inside or outside the Jade Capital Teahouse. Everyone’s eyes were bulging, and their mouths were half-opened as if they were planning to say something. No one did though. No one knew what to say. All sorts of complex emotions were running through their faces.

Elder You seemed very satisfied with their reaction. While wearing a small smile on his face, he leaned back against his chair and casually sipped his tea, waiting.

A long, long silence later, someone finally voiced their puzzlement. “You said that the Thirteen Undying Renegade Bandits can split the damage they took through the Undying Evil Body, right Elder You? So... how did they die in one punch?”

“It is because the Mad Lord’s punch far exceeded their total limit of endurance. They could not endure it even after they had spread the damage across thirteen people. So, they perished.”

Elder You set down the teapot and continued, “After killing the Thirteen Undying Renegade Bandits, the Mad Lord drained his wine gourd to the last drop and declared with a grin, ‘I am the fist that scatters the clouds. I am why the night is lightless.’”

“Having drunk his wine and killed his foes, the Mad Lord left on a gust of wind, leaving not one trace of the Cloud Hue Old Road or the Thirteen Undying Renegade Bandits behind.”

With that said, Elder You drained the teapot[1] in one gulp and took his leave. “If I was a couple decades younger, I would want to meet the Mad Lord myself. Unfortunately, old age is a ruthless curse. A shame. A shame.”

Elder You was gone before his voice was.

No one left despite Elder You’s departure. In fact, it was getting more and more lively with each passing second.

“He does not drink clouds because it is no wine, huh? What arrogance! What dominance!”

“‘I am the fist that scatters the clouds. I am why the night is lightless[2].’ He truly deserves to be called the Mad Lord!”

“He is as mad as his audacity is boundless. The 'Mad Lord' Ye Qing deserves his title!”

“He killed the Brocade Shirt Marquis, bested the Snow Sword Celestial, repelled the Mountain King in one move, destroyed the Military Opera Actor via brute force, and now slew the Thirteen Undying Renegade Bandits in one punch... there is probably no one besides a Half-Sage who can give the Mad Lord a challenge now.”

“Not only that, it would have to be a Half-Sage on the Earth Champions Ranking! Otherwise, it still wouldn’t be a challenge!”

For a time, the guests of Jade Capital Teahouse could only sigh in admiration.

1. Yep, he was drinking straight from the teapot. ☜

2. Not gonna lie, this line is drip asf. ☜